The present invention relates to the field of mail processing and more particularly to a system and method for more efficient processing which takes advantage of the level of skill and experience of video coding clerks. The present invention is adaptable to function with existing mail processing techniques, making the invention extremely compatible with existing systems. As such, start up costs are reduced and applicability is enhanced. Additionally, the invention makes more efficient use of existing resources, thereby further reducing start up costs and lowering barriers to application.
Postal systems using automatic address reading via optical character recognition software (OCR) is known in the art as exemplified in German Patent DE 195 31 392 C1. Processing rates of 10 letters per second, 36,000 letters per hour, are no longer available with modern OCR letter sorting plants as current recognition reliability varies with font and overall paint quality of address information. Mail faces are automatically scanned and decoded to arrive at electronically recognizable characters indicative of at least the destination address. Mail pieces with recognized destination addressee are typically provided with a machine-readable bar code which facilitates additional mechanical processing into a desired sorting order and location. Bar code usage further enables mail piece sorting to the sorter level, wherein mail pieces are further sorted according to letter carrier delivery sequence. Because recognition rates of automatic reading systems vary, it has become necessary to support such systems with video encoding stations. Encoding stations are staffed by specialized clerks who manually decode images of mail pieces that were heretofore in the automatic process unrecognizable. The decoded image is then encoded so that the above bar code an be printed on the mail piece or other sub processing may occur. In essence, encoding stations manually perform what was not possible by machine. Addresses may also be converted into a sorting code via consultation of an index.
The video image of the mail piece address face is shown to the clerk via an online video coding systems (OVS) while the physical mail piece is kept in a delay loop. The mail piece is normally kept in motion for a select period of time sufficient for the clerk to perform his or her tasks. The average delay loop is 10 to 30 seconds long. The longer the delay loop, the higher the operating costs and overall processing plant size. A common problem with OVS is the limited time afforded the clerk by the average delay loop. Herein, sufficient time exists only for careful input of say the zip or postal rode. To address this problem, special coding technology has been developed to keep delay loops as short as possible. To increase coding productivity and/or enable indication by the clerk of more elements of the address, such as zip or postal code, street address, post office box, addressee, film, etc., the following methods are known in the art.
Preview Coding is a method which comprises simultaneous presentation of two mail item images, one above the other. The lower image is active, namely, its data is encoded. After apt training, it is possible for clerks to encode information of the lower and upper image. The upper image is consecutively active and processing is continuous. As such, it is possible to double the operator's productivity by a complete overlay of cognitive and motive functions during coding of sequential pictures.
Extraction Coding is a method which makes use of information encoded by clerks, such as the zip or postal codes. It has bean seen that only the zip or postal codes of the address elements can be reliably entered by a clerk during a typical online delay loop. Other information entered by clerks may include key elements of the address such as the street name. Normally, extraction coding is based on an especially developed set of rules, wherein a code of an exact length is used as an access key to an address register. For example, the ROYAL MAIL uses an extraction formula which is based on the first three and the last two letters of an address. From the address register, it is now possible to determine a match representing the destination address. However, with extraction coding, special rules have to be memorized by the clerks in order to avoid superfluous address information as well as to consider different characteristics such as direction (east, west) or categories (street, lane, road). Although certainly effective, extraction coding includes some disadvantages, including complex extraction rules often requiring consideration of details like street endings—elements which ore usually the most poorly written. Other disadvantages include, a high rate of undetermined extractions corresponding to more than one register listing, thereby making singular destination address determination not possible. In addition, productivity generally declines when clerks are required to make logical decisions in place of mutual repetitive keystrokes.
As the above coding techniques do not provide sufficient productivity with straight online coding, some coding systems have made use of offline coding, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,649. In offline coding, mail pieces with non-recognizable addresses are provided with additional information, such as a tracking identification (TID). The non-recognized mail pieces an stored outside of a delay loop, while images of the mail pieces are presented to clerks for encoding. As a result, the clerk is not under a running time limit. After decoding, the TID is associated with clerk inputted address information. Based upon the TID, common barcode sorting information can be applied to the mail piece. Now, the mail piece may reenter the mail stream and be subjected to normal sorting. Although the offline video coding process presents an effective alternative for encoding addresses, additional capacities and adequate logistics are required for the further processing with non-readable addresses.
A sorting system with several sorters is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,252. Herein, the system comprises a sorting section, picture recording and OCR unit, and several coding stations. The rejected data from the OCR units are allocated to the video coding stations by a sorting unit. The video coding corrected data is then sent back to the originating sorters by the sorting unit. By including the frequency of the rejected data in each sorter as well as performance of the video coding stations, the selection of the video coding stations to process select mail pieces is made so as to maximise throughput and evenly distribute work among the coding stations. By this arrangement, where the individual sorters and the video coding stations are flexibly coupled, it is possible to associate select mail pieces with select sorters to achieve a balanced distribution.